Defining Our Profession Defining Ourselves at Confab

DEFINING OUR PROFESSION,

DEFINING OURSELVES

Confab Central/Mothership/Minnesota

#ConfabMN May 22, 2015

Margot Bloomstein

@mbloomstein

Wiesloch Stadtapotheke Erste Tankstelle, cc Rudolf Stricker

1888, Wiesloch, Germany

City pharmacy

City pharmacy = filling station


@mbloomstein | #ConfabMN 3

In the absence of best practices,

just try, practice, and learn.



Perfection is a pursuit

Wicked problems pull us forward

1909, Altoona, Pennsylvania

America’s oldest gas station

JohnnieandAngela.blogspot.com


1913

Road maps & tire service

JohnnieandAngela.blogspot.com

Road maps & tire service

Full service

Attended pumps

Self service

Air pumps

Squeegees

cc flicker.com/photos/baggis

Is this a gas station?


“A retail business providing the public

a convenient location to quickly purchase

a wide array of food, gasoline, and

services”

NACS, the National Association of Convenience & Fuel Retailing


“2400 square feet

of packaged consumer items.

Today, there are different types of stores:

mini stores under canopies, expanded

food service, in-store seating.”


Industries thrive through differentiation:

both buyers and sellers benefit.

What’s right for me?

What’s right for right now?


Prospect:

Financial services

messaging, workflow,

editorial training



Prospect:

Financial services


editorial training


Prospect:

Financial services


editorial training

for social media


Prospect:

Midmarket institutional investment


editorial training

for social media


Prospect:

Midmarket institutional investment


editorial training

for social media


vulnerability clarity specificity strength

© Barbara Kruger



I help brands clarify their communication

goals to develop, instill, and maintain

appropriate content and editorial voice.


Content strategy plans for the creation,

delivery, and governance of useful,

usable and brand-appropriate content.

This is how I define content strategy.


Content strategy plans for the creation,

publication, and governance of useful,

usable content.

Kristina Halvorson, A List Apart 2009


Content strategy is to copywriting as

information architecture is to design.

Rachel Lovinger, Content Strategy: The Philosophy of Data


I work on how content is organized and

structured. I translate designs into what

needs to be built in the CMS to make the

content work the way it's supposed to.

Rachel Lovinger (@rlovinger), Razorfish


Content strategy within our practice is

less editorial and more strategic. It helps

us determine what and how content will

help solve business and web goals.

Corey Vilhauer (@MrVilhauer), Blend Interactive


We’re like the managing editors of a

magazine: we help to define what goes in

and make sure all the writing is

memorable, fresh, and authentic.

Tiffani Jones-Brown (@ticjones), Pinterest


I'm a content strategist. This means I help

clients and companies figure out how,

when, and why to talk to their audiences.

Keri Maijala (@clamhead)


We are management consultants for

external messaging and editorial

workflow challenges.

Ahava Liebtag (@ahaval), Aha Media Group


I am often a ‘fulcrum’ between disciplines.

I spend at least half my time focusing on

business and cultural change, before

thinking about content.

Elizabeth McGuane, @emcguane


A content strategist is like a business

analyst for your content. We look at how

content is currently helping (or hindering)

your business and develop a strategy to

make it work better.

Sally Bagshaw, @snappysentences


both practitioners and clients benefit



both practitioners and clients benefit

but only when we precisely define our

practices and needs

and then encourage diversity


• Drive the development and organization of content that is useful, compelling and

meaningful on our site, all social media platforms, and distributed content

• Create user flows, information hierarchies, wireframes, and content strategy

• Maintain fluency in industry terminology and develop our “voice” within it

• Determine content requirements, inventory existing content, identify gaps,

evaluate possible sources for additional material, and manage the process of

getting that content into production

• Maintain current content audit

• Creatively look for opportunities to improve content, consumer experience, and

SEO performance

• Manage editorial calendar to proactively keep content useful and up to date

• Train internal and freelance copywriters; develop any necessary training programs

• Develop analytics, conduct consumer and usability testing to help improve the UX

• Lead projects with the PR and marcomm team to support campaigns and launches

• Work with brand architecture and terminology to guide product organization and

internal customer service content and training

• Drive the architecture of and improvements to the internal product CMS

• Occasionally write or edit content, particularly metadata, titles, alt text and edit

general content to optimize for natural search

• Drive the development and organization of content that is useful, compelling and

meaningful on our site, all social media platforms, and distributed content

• Create user flows, information hierarchies, wireframes, and content strategy

• Maintain fluency in industry terminology and develop our “voice” within it

• Determine content requirements, inventory existing content, identify gaps,

evaluate possible sources for additional material, and manage the process of

getting that content into production

• Maintain current content audit

• Creatively look for opportunities to improve content, consumer experience, and

SEO performance

• Manage editorial calendar to proactively keep content useful and up to date

• Train internal and freelance copywriters; develop any necessary training programs

• Develop analytics, conduct consumer and usability testing to help improve the UX

• Lead projects with the PR and marcomm team to support campaigns and launches

• Work with brand architecture and terminology to guide product organization and

internal customer service content and training

• Drive the architecture of and improvements to the internal product CMS

• Occasionally write or edit content, particularly metadata, titles, alt text and edit

general content to optimize for natural search

Without clear differentiation,

hiring (and selling) is frustrating,

training is expensive, and

“content strategy” gets a bad name.



But will we dilute the meaning?




We’ll free the meaning

to communicate what we do or need

with greater precision.

“ ” I’m a designer


But what about the generalists?


But what about the generalists?

Broaden your knowledge,

but narrow your passion.


Broaden your knowledge,

but narrow your passion.

EXPERTISE

Content strategists,

1. Be precise: own your definition.

2. Get specific: narrow what you want.

3. Be honest—and encouraging.

“No… and”


Corporations and marketing departments

who want to hire content strategists


“Clients”


Clients

1. Be precise: own your definition.

2. Get specific: narrow what you want.

3. Be honest—and encouraging.

“No… and”


Content strategy faces two opportunities:

expand the industry & specialize within it

because how we define our industry is

the sum of how we define ourselves.

THANK YOU! Margot Bloomstein

@mbloomstein

[email protected]

slideshare.net/mbloomstein

amzn.to/CSatWork

© 2015 Appropriate, Inc.

http://appropriateinc.com/ideas/growing-t-shaped-content-strategist/

http://www.slideshare.net/jcolman/content-strategy-for-marketers-smx-advanced-2013

http://www.clevegibbon.com/2011/08/what-do-content-strategists-do/

Defining Our Profession Defining Ourselves at Confab

Marketing

usable content

content strategy plans

editorial training

brandappropriate content

financial services messaging

editorial voice

food service

cc rudolf stricker